The Green Bay Packers are hopeful the offseason changes to their defensive line will produce better results for Jeff Hafley’s defense in 2025, but one of their free-agent departures is already drawing praise as a top NFL “luxury” player
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently highlighted several of the league’s “top luxury players” at various positions — such as sixth offensive lineman and blocking tight end– and landed on former Packers fifth-round pick TJ Slaton as the top “two-down defensive tackle.”
Slaton exited the Packers after his rookie contract expired in March and signed a two-year, $14.1 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, who have already seen him start to take on a leadership role alongside veteran defensive tackle B.J. Hill for their frontlines.
“In 2024, Slaton’s 45.5% run-stop win rate on the interior led all defenders, just ahead of highly compensated tackles D.J. Jones, Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner,” Barnwell wrote Thursday. The highlight of his season might have been a fourth-and-goal snap in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins, where Slaton drove the guard backward, drew a holding penalty and pressured Tua Tagovailoa into the arms of Quay Walker for a drive-ending sack. It wasn’t pretty, but it sure was effective.
“Slaton’s not going to be a replacement for Trey Hendrickson or even former Bengals tackle DJ Reader, but for a team that ranked 30th in EPA per play against designed runs last season, Slaton was a much-needed addition.”
T.J. Slaton’s Role Diminished Under DC Jeff Hafley
Slaton was one of the Packers’ most notable free-agent departures in 2025 after making 40 starts and playing in all 72 games over his first four seasons, but his performance as a pass rusher in 2024 might have prompted the team to look elsewhere for solutions.
While Slaton started all 17 games in 2024, his role diminished in Hafley’s 4-3 defense, playing just 427 defensive snaps after playing 626 in the previous season. He continued to find success as a run-stopper (evidenced by his top run-stop win rate), but he had 20 fewer tackles than in 2023 and tallied just one sack, three QB hits and 13 pressures.
Based on Pro Football Focus’s grading metric, Slaton had the worst season of his four-year career in 2024 and earned the 16th-worst overall grade (45.3) among all defensive tackles. The sports analytics website also dinged Slaton’s ability against the run (45.0), criticizing his lack of splash plays (zero forced fumbles or recoveries in four seasons).
The Bengals will hope Slaton can get back on track in 2025 — or at least find a more impactful role for him in their 4-3 defense — but his one-dimensionality could hurt him.
Will T.J. Slaton’s Departure Hurt Packers’ 2025 DL?
The Packers decided against re-signing Slaton with Pro Bowl veteran Kenny Clark and first-round pick Devonta Wyatt both returning for the 2025 season. But with few other additions to the defensive interior, it is fair to wonder if the Packers will regret casting aside Slaton’s adept run-stopping ability and letting him sign with another team.
The Packers will need stronger contributions from 2023 draft picks Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks without Slaton in the mix. Brooks has stood out as a rotational pass rusher, tallying eight sacks in his first two seasons, but both he and Wooden have struggled as run-stoppers. Wooden could even find himself on the roster bubble if he does not show enough progress during his third training camp and falls behind others in the pack.
The Packers also added two rookies who will give them more size: sixth-round pick Warren Brinson (6-foot-5, 315 pounds) and Nazir Stackhouse (6-foot-4, 327 pounds), the latter of whom is the Packers’ heaviest player on the roster. While both figure to push for roles in the rotation, neither has proven enough yet to provide much comfort.
The pieces are present for the Packers, but they will need to put it all together and tout a more formidable unit before they can comfortably feel like Slaton won’t be missed.
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